Abstract

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) and severe Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) are common, yet often remain unrecognized and not adequately treated. One reason for this is the lack of a valid German screening instrument. The aim of the present study was to create a German version of the English "premenstrual symptoms screening tool (PSST)" and to verify its applicability. The German version of the PSST was created as "Screening- Instrument für Prämenstruelle Symptome (SIPS)" and its reliability and validity estimated based on data from 47 women with and without PMDD/severe PMS, using internet-based daily symptom-ratings. The retest-reliability of the SIPS was r=0.69, Cronbach`s Alpha was 0.924. As indicator of the convergent validity of the SIPS, there were significant differences between women with and without PMDD/severe PMS as identified by the SIPS, with regard to prospectively assessed premenstrual symptomatology (F(2,44)=4.52, p>0.001) and symptom change (F(2,44)=25.23, p>0.001). The SIPS is reliable and valid and may help improving the identification of women who require treatment for their premenstrual symptoms.